Oral Minoxidil vs topical Minoxidil for hair grow, which is the better choice?

The FDA approved topical minoxidil for hair grow, actually a lot of people use oral Minoxidil, oral minoxidil vs topical minoxidil for hair grow, which is the better choice?

If minoxidil is able to oral use

The FDA approved minoxidil for the treatment of AGA (androgenic alopecia). However, the approved topical use is topical. Can Minoxidil be taken orally?

Yes, Minoxidil can be taken orally, and many AGA patients take minoxidil orally to treat hair loss. Is it feasible and safe to take minoxidil orally?

After learning about minoxidil’s research history, we know that treating hair loss is a side effect of minoxidil’s treatment of high blood pressure. Minoxidil was originally intended to lower blood pressure and was administered orally. However, in the treatment of oral minoxidil for lowering blood pressure, it was found that the side effect was the growth of hair on the whole body. Therefore, Topical minoxidil was developed for the treatment of AGA. Topical minoxidil can specifically increase hair instead of the whole body hair, therefore, topical use is the first.

The safety of minoxidil has been well documented in studies of its treatment for hypertension. Therefore, minoxidil is able to use orally.

Oral Minoxidil effect

Studies have shown that people respond better to oral minoxidil than to topical use.

Topical minoxidil doesn’t work for everyone. The effectiveness of Minoxidil is affected by sulfotransferase. minoxidil does not function as hair growth until the enzymes in the body convert minoxidil to minoxidil sulfate. When there is a deficiency or low activity of the sulfotransferase in an individual, minoxidil becomes less effective or non-responsive. Because the concentration of sulfotransferase in the liver is higher, oral minoxidil is circulatory throughout the body, so more minoxidil is converted to minoxidil sulfate, resulting in better hair growth of oral minoxidil. Some AGA patients who do not respond to topical minoxidil will respond to oral minoxidil.

Therefore, the effect of oral minoxidil will be better than topical minoxidil.

Oral minoxidil vs topical minoxidil,which is the better choice?

If the effect of oral minoxidil is better than that of topical minoxidil, should we directly choose oral minoxidil? The answer is not that simple, and there are side effects to consider. Because oral minoxidil circulates through the body, it can lead to more side effects, such as low blood pressure, heart irregularities, and headaches, and of course, the inevitable hair growth all over the body.

For men, it may be that hair growth all over the body is not a big problem, and side effects such as low blood pressure can also be reduced by reducing the oral dose. For those who do not respond to topical Minoxidil, oral minoxidil may be considered.